Read this thesis. The central factor in Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb was the United States' rivalry with the Soviet Union, not ending the war with Japan.

Identify two sources listed below that could be used to support this thesis.

Question 27 options:

"There are voices which assert that the bomb should never have been used at all. I cannot associate myself with such ideas...I am surprised that very worthy people...should adopt the position that rather than throw this bomb, we should have sacrificed a million American and a quarter of a million British lives"

Quote by Winston Churchill, 1945 (U. K.)

"The use of (the atomic bombs) at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons"

Quote by Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, 1950 (U. S.A)

"the enemy now possesses a new and terrible weapon with the power to destroy many innocent lives and do incalculable [huge] damage. Should we continue to fight, not only would it result in the ultimate collapse and obliteration [destruction] of the Japanese nation, but it would also lead to the total extinction of human civilization."

Quote by Emperor Hirohito, 1945 (Japan)

"I realized that [Stalin and Churchill] were talking about research on the atomic bomb. It was clear already then that the U. S. government intended to use the atomic weapon for the purpose of achieving its imperialist goals...in the 'cold war'...Without any military need whatsoever, the Americans dropped two atomic bombs on the peaceful and densely-populated Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Quote by Marshal Georgii Zhukov, 1971 (U. S.S. R)